The founders of Steamroller restaurants, Jamie Barber and Geoffrey Moore, have unveiled plans for their next restaurant venture, to open on the site of Che in St James's, which ceased trading under the Plaza Group in May.
The 90-seat restaurant, called Shumi, will open in October and offer Italian cuisine inspired by Japanese culinary techniques, such as sashimi and sushi. Head chef will be Lee Purcell, formerly of London restaurants Daphne's and Sartoria. An Italian sushi (or susci) counter will be located in the middle of the restaurant on the first floor, and fish popular in Italy - such as cod, bass and swordfish - will be served sashimi-style, marinated with virgin olive oil, lemon, garlic, tomato, Italian cheeses and herbs.
The Interim Bar, which is operating on the site, will be open for a further month before the restaurateurs close down the operation, refurbish and reopen in mid-October. The current Cigar Room and main bar area will be converted to one main drinking space, and the change of decor throughout, overseen by United Designers' Keith Hobbs, will be "lighter, elegant and more classic" than the present design.
Features of the Grade II*-listed building, such as mosaic tiling and the escalator, will stay, Barber said. "The brown carpets will go and we will introduce natural stone flooring."
Barber said the pair, who also operate Hush restaurants in London and Gstaad in Switzerland, were keen to develop a concept that offered the delicate lightness of Japanese cuisine but with Italian flavours.
"Geoffrey and I both love Italian cooking. Geoffrey is half-Italian, we both speak Italian and my family have a house in Italy, so we've got Italy in our blood," he said.
Source: Caterer & Hotelkeeper magazine, 24 - 30 July 2003